August 1, 1944: Anne Frank makes her final diary entry. Three days later she would be arrested and sent to die in a concentration camp.
August 1, 1893: Henry Perky patents shredded wheat.
August 2, 2008: The K2 Disasterconcludes with 6 more deaths near the summit of the world’s second tallest mountain. 5 had died the previous day. Arriving too late at the summit on August 1, climbers spent a harrowing night trying to survive in the Death Zone. Some hung dangling all night after getting caught up in ropes. Others died in avalanches. The 11 total dead in 24 hours was K2’s deadliest day.
August 2, 1943: Jewish prisoners stage a revolt at Treblinka, one of the deadliest of Nazi death camps where approximately 900,000 persons were murdered in less than 18 months.
August 2, 1790: The first United States Census is conducted.
August 3, 1970: Hurricane Celia makes landfall near Corpus Christi, Texas. Almost 9000 homes are destroyed and 28 are killed.
August 3, 1977: The Tandy Corporation announces the TRS-80, one of the world’s first mass-produced personal computers.
August 4, 1845: The British ship *Cataraqui * wrecks in a storm off King Island, Australia. 400 die in this, Australia’s deadliest maritime disaster. 8 crewman and 1 passenger survive and are rescued after 5 weeks marooned on King Island.
August 4, 1892: The father and stepmother of Lizzie Borden are found murdered in their Fall River, Massachusetts home.
August 5, 1949: The Ambato Earthquake in Ecuador kills over 5000.
August 5, 1914: The American Traffic Signal Company installs a traffic signal system on the corner of East 105th Street and Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio. It has two colors, red and green, and a buzzer, based on the design of James Hoge, to provide a warning for color changes. The design by James Hoge allows police and fire stations to control the signals in case of emergency.
August 6, 1930: In one of history’s most famous unexplained disappearances, New York Supreme Court associate justice Judge Joseph F. Cratersteps into a taxi in New York City and is never seen again.
August 6, 1945: Hiroshima, Japan is devastated when the atomic bomb “Little Boy” is dropped by the United States B-29 Enola Gay. Around 70,000 people are killed instantly, and some tens of thousands die in subsequent years from burns and radiation poisoning.
August 7, 1904: The Eden Train Wreck. A flash flood wave washes the No 11 Missouri Pacific Flyer off a bridge 8 miles north of Pueblo, Colorado. At least 97 die.
August 8, 1975: Remnants of typhoon Nina collide with a cold front over China, producing extraordinary rainfall and causing the Banqiao Dam to fail. The resulting catastrophe is the deadliest structural failure in human history. At least 171,000 are killed (some estimates go as high as 230,000). Over 10 million people are displaced.
August 8, 1945: After an air raid accidentally destroys a train carrying about 4,000 Nazi concentration camp internees in Prussian Hanover, the survivors are massacred by Nazis.
August 9, 1865: The SS *Pewabic*collides with its sister ship *Meteor * on Lake Huron, about six miles off Thunder Bay. The Pewabic sinks killing over 100. This is the deadliest disaster ever on Lake Huron. Several died since trying to reach this wreck.
August 10, 1856: An estimated category 4 hurricane destroys Last Island, Louisiana. Prior to the storm, Last Island was a popular resort for the wealthy. Over 200 died in the hurricane. Last Island was split by the storm surge waters and much of it submerged. Today the area is a wildlife sanctuary.
August 11, 1909: The SS *Arapahoe * becomes the first ship ever to use the SOS distress code. The boat had been disabled off Hatteras, North Carolina and needed help. The message is received and the ship rescued.
August 12, 1985: JAL Flight 123 crashes into a mountain in Japan. 520 die. This is the deadliest single airplane disaster in history. 4 people actually survived, and it is believed some others might also have lived if rescue operations had been better carried out.